Teen girl killed in drive-by shooting

August 21, 2005|By PEPPER BALLARD

pepperb@herald-mail.com

SEVERN, MD.

A 15-year-old Hagerstown girl was shot dead Wednesday night in Severn after a car pulled up to where she and a group were standing, the Anne Arundel County Police Department said in a written release.

Police identified the girl on Friday as Keisha Shardae Lane, according to the release.

At 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, Keisha and Joshua David Doyle, 19, of Laurel, Md., were standing next to a car with two other people on Stillmeadows Drive near Robin Court in Severn when another car pulled up to them and parked, the release states. Three men got out of the vehicle and began shooting at the group, striking Keisha and Doyle, police said.

Keisha and Doyle were transported for treatment to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where Keisha was pronounced dead, according to the release.

Doyle's condition was unavalable Saturday.

The shooting remains under investigation, according to police. No motive has been established, police said.

The three men suspected in the shooting are only described as black men, the release states. The car in which they were riding is only described as a dark-colored sedan, police wrote.

Potomac Heights Elementary School teacher Rebecca Kercheval was shocked to hear the news of Keisha's death.

She remembered Keisha from teaching her in third grade at Potomac Heights. She was a "very smart girl, who did well in her academics, especially math," Kercheval wrote in a letter to The Herald-Mail.

She wrote: "Although I can't remember specifics, I do remember she had some hard times over the years. One of the most memorable items I have was a letter she wrote me at the end of the school year. I've always kept it in my desk as a reminder of how much impact a teacher can really make in a student's life."

Keisha's letter, dated June 10, 1999, and written on notebook paper, said, "I am sorry for all the trouble I caused in third grade. When I get to fourth grade I will try to have a better time. But when you leave I will never for get you and I hope you will never for get me."

Attempts to reach Keisha's family Saturday were unsuccessful.

Anyone with information on the shooting may call the Anne Arundel County Police Department's homicide unit at 410-222-3566 or call the homicide unit tip line at 410-923-4543 to leave an anonymous tip.

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